she said Pumpkin and Pear Ravioli

As you might imagine this recipe was a bit of a production but a truly beautiful one. I am so proud to have made my own raviolis and the flavors of the pumpkin and pear paired perfectly (quite the tongue twister!). And in case you have any doubt, believe me, the taste of fresh pasta is far superior to the packaged kind. With crispy, buttery sage on top....Wow!

Pasta dough:
2 large eggs
1-2 tablespoons water or more if needed
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

1. Place eggs, water, flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a metal blade. Mix until the dough becomes homogeneous.
2. Either turn out onto a lightly floured surface and hand knead for 10 - 15 minutes or use your mixer fitted with a bread hook to knead (which is MUCH easier). When done the dough should look very smooth and feel almost velvety.
3. Form dough into a flattened disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Roasted Pumpkin:
1 firm sugar pie pumpkin

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Rinse pumpkin under warm water. Dry and cut the pumpkin in half on a large cutting board, with a sharp knife and scoop out the seeds and stringy fibers with a spoon.
6. Lay the pumpkin halves face side down in a large baking dish, along with a 1/4 inch water. Bake for approximately 60 - 90 minutes (depending on size) or until tender with a fork to check.
7. Remove from oven and cool. Once cool, scoop out the flesh of each pumpkin half and discard skin.
8. Puree roasted pumpkin in a food processor.

Pumpkin and Pear Filling:
1/4 cup shallots, diced
4 tablespoons butter
2 pears, ripe (I used Bartlett)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 1/2 ounces ricotta cheese
ground black pepper
1/3 cup Parmesan

9. Saute diced shallots in butter until shallots are fragrant and translucent. Add sauteed shallots to pumpkin puree in food processor.
10. Saute pears, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook until pears start to break down but aren't mushy. Add sauteed pears to food processor.
11. Add ricotta cheese, pepper and Parmesan to the food processor and mix well.

12. Remove dough from refrigerator and either roll out as thin as possible on a floured surface or use your insanely-awesome pasta maker attachment on your mixer to thin your dough according the mixer's instructions for ravioli. Lightly coat the cut pasta in flour to prevent from sticking.

13. Brush 1 sheet of dough with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten)
14. Place mounds of the filling on the egg-washed dough, about 2 inches apart.

15. Cover the mounded dough with the second sheet of pasta and press around the mounds of filling. Press well to make sure the edges are sealed. Be sure to remove any air around the center.
16. Using a ravioli cutter or a sharp knife, cut out the ravioli.

17. Once cut, move raviolis to a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper until you finish making the rest.

18. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, while you make the sauce.

Butter and Sage Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
12 leaves of fresh sage
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and Pepper

19. In a saucepan, melt butter and continue cooking until golden brown color appears in the thinnest liquid of the butter.
20. Add sage leaves and lemon juice. Remove from heat.

21. Add ravioli to rapidly boiling water and cook for approximately 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as raviolis begin to float to the top, they are done.
22. Drain the pasta and gently pour into saute pan and return saucepan to heat. Add Parmesan and toss to coat. Serve immediately.


We devoured our heaping bowls of raviolis and once we were perfectly satisfied we sat back and discussed what we learned and might do differently with our next batch of homemade raviolis. Some of our thoughts are listed below for your consideration as well.

1. When roasting the pumpkin, I might coat the pumpkin with some olive oil and salt & pepper to add a little more flavor.
2. Experiment with varieties of cheese in the filling. Ricotta is a pretty mild cheese. Maybe add some gorgonzola for punch.
3. Add some more herbs to the butter sauce. Maybe thyme. Or add some chopped walnuts. Or possibly a 1/3 cup white wine. Experiment.
4. But the biggest lesson learned was....DON'T BE AFRAID TO STUFF THE RAVIOLIS WITH FILLING. I wish I had stuffed them full as the filling was so good.

Scott, thank you so much for this wonderful recipe suggestion and encouraging the experimentation. I can't wait to make many more pasta recipes with you!